TVPHI| Chapter 2

Episode 2

Lefonya roughly used a box as a step and climbed up onto it, then looked at her face in the mirror.

Five years old.

She looked exactly like she had back when she lived at the orphanage.

Her slightly curly silver hair, which would stick out in every direction whenever it rained, forcing her to keep pressing it down with her palms.

Her red eyes, which she had disliked because they looked like blood.

Even her thin arms and legs, which looked unpleasantly skinny like bare tree branches because she had never even been able to eat one proper meal a day.

Everything was the same.

“Wha’s happenin’?”

Ah.

This stupid five-year-old tongue.

If she did not put enough strength into her words, her tongue would loosen on its own, making even her pronunciation unclear.

Lefonya buried her face in her tiny palms and desperately tried to figure out what had happened.

Through the gaps between her fingers, she could see a tiny amount of pink liquid left inside the little medicine bottle lying on the floor.

“…A shrinking potion.”

Lefonya frowned and picked up the empty bottle.

“This isn’t a shrinking potion.”

Lefonya put strength into her tongue and muttered with clear pronunciation.

“I definitely bought two blue potions back then.”

The potions she had bought back then had definitely been blue.

Lefonya shook the empty bottle with the tiny amount of pink liquid still inside.

“Someone switched the potion.”

Startled by her own words, Lefonya hurriedly looked around.

A line of cold sweat ran down her back.

Goosebumps covered her entire body.

“But no one knows about this house.”

She had secretly bought this house under the fake identity of a commoner man.

There was no reason for anyone to know about it.

‘If this had been poison…’

If she had drunk it without suspecting anything, she would have died instantly.

The moment she realized that, Lefonya jumped up and searched the entire house from top to bottom.

She checked every possible hiding place, but thankfully, there was no one hiding inside.

“Calm down.”

I need to calm my tongue down first.

‘It wasn’t the Pope.’

If the Pope had done this, he would have put real poison there instead of a potion that made her younger.

‘Then… was it one of my siblings?’

Lefonya crossed her short legs and sat on the chair.

The Pope liked Lefonya because she was an excellent student.

That was why, even when she failed a mission, he made an exception and allowed her to live instead of killing her.

His affection was power.

So it was only natural that her siblings, who saw Lefonya as a thorn in their side, would become jealous and make plans to kill or kidnap her.

“Haa.”

If her siblings found out that Lefonya had become a five-year-old child, they would probably be so excited that they would dance around with their swords.

So she had to hide her current condition somehow.

“Maybe I’ll return to normal after a day.”

Lefonya lightly bit her plump, soft red lips.

“First…”

Lefonya clenched both fists with determination.

“I need to change my clothes.”

Five-year-old Lefonya jumped down from the chair and toddled away.

“I’m doomed.”

She wasn’t turning back.

And this broken tongue wasn’t working properly either.

“I’m totally doomed.”

Her body wasn’t changing back either.

“Just how long am I going to be five years old?!”

She had spent several days eating and sleeping in the cabin while watching the situation, hoping that her body would eventually return to normal.

But there was absolutely no sign of it happening.

The wound on the back of her hand had healed completely, but her body remained the same.

On top of that, perhaps because her weak childhood body had been restored exactly as it was, she became short of breath after running even a little, and there was hardly any strength in her arms and legs.

She had gone around picking up discarded children’s clothes and roughly wearing them, but even those were still too loose.

She could not even put enough strength into her hands to properly use a small kitchen knife.

Because of that, she could not peel an apple and had to eat it with the skin on.

There were some advantages.

She recovered her energy quickly after sleeping for even a short time, and she got full after eating only a little, so she could save money on food.

But this situation was still a huge problem.

“I can’t do my mission like this.”

Her original plan had been to drink the shrinking potion, check the heirloom, and then get a job as a maid at the Krytan Ducal Residence.

She planned to pretend to work as a maid, steal the heirloom, and run away…

‘But with a five-year-old body, I won’t even make it past the entrance of the Krytan Ducal Residence.’

Who would hire a five-year-old as a maid?

Lefonya placed her small hand against her forehead.

‘I could drink a reversal potion.’

The problem was that the reversal potion was extremely expensive.

Even the shrinking potion had cost almost all the money she had saved up.

The reversal potion cost three times as much as the shrinking potion.

And with her current body, she could not even work, so there was no way to earn money.

‘I don’t know exactly what potion I drank, so I shouldn’t carelessly drink any other potions for now.’

Lefonya bit her lip hard.

“Just wait until I find out who did this.”

Knock, knock.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Was there anyone who would come to this cabin?

‘Could it be the person who switched the potion?’

Maybe they had come to check what had happened after switching the potion.

‘But it doesn’t feel like one of my siblings.’

If it had been one of them, they would not have knocked.

They would have thrown a sword first.

Lefonya slowly walked toward the entrance.

“Who is it?”

Ah.

This tongue was seriously annoying.

Lefonya rolled her tongue around and put strength into it before asking again.

“Who is it?”

“Hmm. I came because I have something to ask. Are there no adults here?”

A polite question came from beyond the door.

‘Adult?’

She should probably open the door first.

Lefonya tilted her head and carefully opened the door.

Standing outside were a middle-aged woman from the neighboring house, whom Lefonya had encountered while going around looking for discarded clothes, and a knight.

Because Lefonya was looking up at them from a child’s eye level, her shoulders naturally shrank back.

“…Who are you?”

Lefonya asked while moving her eyes around cautiously.

“Hello.”

The knight greeted her with a gentle voice and waved.

At the same time, he briefly swept his sharp gaze through the inside of the house.

Lefonya gave him a suspicious look and slightly closed the door.

The knight quickly pulled his gaze away and lowered himself to Lefonya’s eye level before smiling brightly.

“Is there no other adult inside?”

“Why?”

“Did they go out?”

Lefonya shook her head.

‘They’re checking whether I’m hiding a wanted criminal or some other criminal inside.’

Lefonya had been chased by the capital’s guards before, so she immediately understood what the knight was trying to do.

Whenever a criminal escaped, the guards would check each house to make sure no one was hiding another person inside.

‘As if.’

Lefonya gave them a bright, childlike smile and shook her head.

“I live here alone.”

The knight and the woman exchanged confused looks at Lefonya’s confident answer.

“You can come inside and check. There really isn’t anyone here except me.”

Lefonya lifted her chin, smiled confidently, and opened the door wide.

“Where are your parents?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Where did they go?”

“I never had any. Not since I was born. They abandoned me.”

“Do you have anyone who looks after you? Relatives or any adults nearby?”

“No. It’s always just been me here.”

The more Lefonya answered, the more pity appeared in the eyes of the two adults.

“See? I told you it looked like a little child was living here alone. I was right, wasn’t I?”

…Huh?

“Hmm. I suppose you were.”

Huh?

They reported her because they thought a child was living alone?

‘Wait… are they talking about me?’

Lefonya’s eyes trembled.

“This house looks like it has been empty for a long time. …I guess the house was left empty, so the child came inside and has been living here alone.”

No, that’s not right.

I’m the owner who has been away from this house for a long time.

“Thank you for reporting this. We’ll take care of the child and make sure she’s protected. …Little one. It’s dangerous to live here alone. A bad person might come, and if you get sick, there won’t be anyone to help you.”

Something was going very wrong.

“…But I’m okay.”

“You may seem fine right now, but you’re really not. You’re still a child, and you’re at an age where you need someone to protect you.”

Lefonya frowned.

When she had truly needed protection, there had been no one willing to reach out a hand to her.

So why were they suddenly acting like this now?

“You’re being nosy.”

Lefonya firmly refused.

Of course, it did not work.

“Come here. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“Where are you taking the child?”

The woman and the knight talked to each other, completely ignoring Lefonya.

“First, we’ll take her to an orphanage and check her identity and parents. I’ll continue to keep an eye on her, so don’t worry.”

Lefonya’s head shot up.

Wait.

What did he just say?

An orphanage?

“There’s a good orphanage nearby with good facilities. I’ve heard the director is a good person.”

Were they sending her to an orphanage?

That hell?

She was going back there… again?

“I…”

At the pitifully trembling voice of the child, the two adults lowered their heads.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Oh my, you must be really scared. It’s okay, sweetheart. This kind knight is just going to take you somewhere warm with lots of friends.”

No.

How could that possibly be a warm place?

“I’m not going. Don’t touch me.”

“You’re frightened, aren’t you? It’s okay. It’s okay.”

The knight smiled and reached his arms toward the frightened Lefonya.

She tried to quickly move away, but avoiding the knight’s hands was not easy with a five-year-old body.

“Let go! Let me go! I don’t need this!”

Lefonya punched the knight and struggled with all her strength, but he did not even budge.

After thanking the woman, the knight walked away while holding the struggling Lefonya in his arms.

“You must have been lonely all by yourself, right? Once you get there, you’ll have lots of friends, plenty of food, and a warm place to stay.”

“Put me down. I’m not going! This is kidnapping.”

“It’s okay. I’m really trying to help you.”

“I don’t want to go there!”

That place.

That’s hell.

Remembering everything she had gone through when she was five, Lefonya desperately struggled.

She fought with all her strength to escape from the knight’s arms.

But his arms were so strong that it was not easy to get away.

‘I’m in a five-year-old’s body right now.’

There was no way she could escape from the arms of a trained knight with a five-year-old body.

‘If I scream here, will someone help me?’

Lefonya bit her small lips tightly.

No.

There was no way anyone would help her.

People surprisingly did not care much about other people’s problems.

If there had been someone willing to help…

When she had truly been five years old and screamed for help while running away from the orphanage…

When she had been beaten at the almshouse and cried out for someone to save her…

Someone would have helped her.

Maybe it would be better to go to the orphanage like this and then escape again…

“What is all this commotion?”

Just as Lefonya was making a plan to escape from the orphanage, a shadow fell over her head.

Then a calm, indifferent voice came from above.